How To Train A Rat To Come When Called - Audio Tutorial 

You'd probably want to do it through vibrations. For example, my girls will look up and often come over if I pat the ground out of pure curiosity - I bet you could turn this into a come when called!

Just yell loud like a ogre. Worked for me mom's dog 🐕

@@ShadowTheRat perhaps light?

@@Patrick33194 i had a Great Pyrenees that was deaf and she would be knocked tf out with me running a leaf blower 10 feet away😂

Do u still have them?

I do ‘tik tok tik tok’ wid my tongue like I’m speaking!kung!

For sure!

Thank you! :)

I'm sure mice can learn to come as well - I'd give it a try if your able :)

Ikr, I really want a rat now

Ratsusses are great little beings!

I was at a bar last night and this guy walked in with his rat hanging out on his shoulder and in his hood.. it seemed that everyone knew this guy and his rat buddy because people kept picking the rat up and hanging out with it.. the rat seemed like this was normal to her and didn't even flinch!! So now, I want one.. lol

@@jennypena6861 I know this comment is old but you would need at least two because they are social and get depressed when kept alone.

Shadow The Rat thankyou! She wasn't really bad I'll, she had something with her paw so I thought maybe she fell from her cage? But she had the 'wobling' of her head for a while her and her sisters do have black eyes (do with blue but only when she's happy and she does the eye popping) I'll look into it and when it's not getting better today we'll visit the vet. Thankyou very much! Edit - it wasn't an ear infection

Johannah Brouwers Cheerios. They tend to love them. You could also use some baby foods and test what each rat likes by putting out samples for them to choose from. You could also choose things like berries and fruit. My 3 girls love raspberries and mango's and some banana.

I normally give them cheerios as treats and they love them but I will certainly try baby foods for training.

My main treats are Cheerios and Gerber puffs broken into 2-4 pieces each. I also use meat baby food and plain yogurt, along with water papers for more restideas, I have my old video on treats posted on my website treat page :) rattrix.weebly.com/treats.html

Shadow The Rat great thank you I’ll check it out! I also watched your other video about your rat haul and got my girls a space orb, some tubes and the teach and treat. Great videos!

I bought 2 rats recently and previously had 1, totally different experience, please help! Thanks in advance

Pretty much any training involves shaping because you are always working up to a goal. Even if your using a lure to teach spin you are initially rewarding small steps towards the end goal and so shaping the trick. So yep, coming when called definitely involves shaping.

Yes but those are going to be less healthy than plan cheerios. Maybe take a few honey cheerios and break them into bits and then take some plain rice puffs and alternate those as treats (I use gerber puffs along with the plain cheerios myself, you could also see if you can find those).

It might, but I think it'd be less precise than a clicker.

@@ShadowTheRat Ok, I think I'll use that instead then, thank you

Maroon Whoops, I thought this was on my clicker training video. Never mind what I said, a whistle for come will work fine. The reason I said a clicker would be more precise is because if your using the sound as a marker you want it to be as quick and short as possible to mark the moment right away, but for come that’s not an issue

Start with one rat, and once they can come when called bring out all of them. I find rats learn to come by watching other rats do so much faster than we can teach them,. so once one knows it I just bring out all my rats and call that one repeatedly - within a minute or so all of them will have learned to come just by copying the first!

Shadow The Rat ok thanks for the feedback

A lot of early training will be pretty unfocused and all over the place because rats are just very hyperactive animals. This isn't them being uninterested in training, its just how rats naturally are. They will gain focus, but it takes time and experience for them to build it up. The best way I’ve found to start building focus and training is to set everything up for success first. You want to first make sure that the environment you train in is familiar to them - I usually use the playpen I free-range my rats in, and I’ll have tons of houses and hides so that if they get spooked they have many bolt holes (which really boosts their confidence). Another thing you want to work on is the lure alone - a lot of people skip this but it’s so helpful to train it as it’s own behavior. To do this you can take a liquid treat or a bunch of small solid treats and show them to your rat. Let them eat a bit and then start moving your hand forwards while still letting them eat. Do this a few times, then start to hold the treat out of reach for a step or two before rewarding. Build this up to 2-3 steps before rewarding, then 3-4 steps, then 4-5 steps, and so forth, always varying how many steps you lure them before rewarding and working up to a consistent 5-10 steps each time. Once they have the lure down then you want to work on some of the easier body manipulation tricks. These will be things like spin, paw, jump to hand, backup, etc. Don’t work on complex tricks like fetch at first since your rats first need to build their confidence and focus with easy tricks before switching to multi-step ones. I usually teach spin or paw first, and in both cases you want to fade the lure as soon as possible. Each time you repeat the motion of luring your rat into a spin or paw you want to try and use it less and less - try not to get stuck on the luring step by overdoing it. Even if you do all this though at first it’s likely that your rats will run off ever few seconds at first. They really do have to build that confidence and focus with training and this is another reason you want to start by working on behaviors that can be picked up whenever they give you a few seconds of attention. Over time they will gain more experience and skills and they will learn to stick around and focus. Once they know about 5-7 tricks in my experience that’s when you start to see a greater focus and can move to harder tricks. Its also a good idea to start with liquid treats at first, because rats find them more valuable and can't run off with them. Later you can move to small solid treats, but any treat should only take a few seconds for the rat to consume. Finally I have a video here showing the basics of training that goes over ideal training environment, what to expect at first, and so forth: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-O8FwS_kYAno.html And I also have a series here done with my girls Olive and Donut, starting when I got them at 5.5 weeks and continuing with every session (about 10 minutes on average) that shows more of the normality of rats being distracted at first, but then slowly gaining focus: ru-vid.com/group/PLGThSDBAdLEJw_uz3vQ1snQ7fIvmD3SXV Happy training!

In most cases yes, unless your working on a multi rat trick like vs basketball and even then you only work with both once they know the trick well. In this case though I will teach one rat first, then call them over several times with the other rats out. I find the other rats will pick up from the first rat much quicker than I can teach them and after seeing their buddy go to me when called a few times they start to respond as well all on their own!

Conditioning the initial come noise will only take a few minutes, but to make it a strong cue that gets them to come regardless of distraction you will need to work on it for a few minutes daily and you will need to gradually increase distractions. It's easily the trick I practice the most because its so useful and I will always reward a rat for successfully coming over when I call.

@@ShadowTheRat ok thank you so much thats really helpful and your video was so good

You can use baby food for training - I do occasionally use meat baby food myself, but its a bit too high in protein to be a regular treat so I don't use it too often.

@@ShadowTheRat are Cheerios okay to be training treats or regular treats?? What should I use for special treats? Sorry for the questions. Lots of websites are false so I can’t find accurate information

Plain cheerios are a good regular treat, but if you use HoneyNut or other sweetened ones then only use them on special occasions. As for special treats anything super tasty works - I've use meat baby food, or malt paste, or even occasionally applesauce or whip cream! These I'll usually use when first working a trick I think will be extra difficult and I want to give them more motivation - but otherwise my standard treats of plain yogurt/plain cheerios/gerber puffs works well. I also have a video here that goes over how to start out training, going over ideal environment, treats, methods (luring, targeting, shaping), clicker-training, generalization, and more that can give you an idea of how to start out: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-O8FwS_kYAno.html

@@ShadowTheRat Thank you so much for all your help

For training treats I mainly use plain yogurt, plain cheerios broken into bite-sized bits, gerber puffs (a human baby snack) broken into bite-sized bits, and occasionally meat baby food.

@@ShadowTheRat thank you

Make sure your playpen has lots of hides and such for the rats to enjoy, and climbing on you is completely normal so expect that as well. Especially if the playpen is new to them, they will be wary of open space. So by giving them lots of houses and hides and tunnels and maybe even wearing a blanket or loose sweater, you give them places to hide and as a result they will feel safer and be more likely to explore. It'll take time for them to adjust, so make sure they have a few hours in it each time so they have time to decompress and start exploring before you put them up. It also really helps to attach your cage to the play area so they can choose to come and go at will - not only does this boost their confidence because they are choosing to come out, but they will also naturally go back to the cage to potty which is a big benefit. This video shows my old setup, but for the last few years I've been attaching my cage using velcro and I find rats adjust to free-range time much faster when they get to choose to leave or go back to the cage at will. I have a video of my new setup here - if your cage is smaller you can place it directly into the pen, but because mine is too bulky I just added velcro to the playpen and the cage sides so I can attach them and then open the cage door and let my rats come and go from the cage/free-range area: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qGnPKcx3FAw.html As far as training goes, rats are naturally quite distracted and its natural for them to be all over the place at first. If they aren't taking food though then that means they are feeling nervous - rats value safety above all else, and if they gladly take food in the cage but not outside it, that means they aren';t comfortable in the new area yet. I suggest doing some of the things I mentioned above and offering liquid treats periodically when they come by you - when they take them readily, that's a sign that they are feeling more confident in the new area and will be more receptive to training. And when you do start training, its a good idea to train a food lure as its own behavior first. Many rats will view you moving food away from them as teasing, and that will frustrate them and cause them to run off. So instead, teach luring as its own behavior by letting them lick the treat as you slowly lead them forwards, stopping every few steps to let them finish licking off the treat. Do this a few times, then start to hold the treat out of reach for just 1-2 steps, before stopping and letting them lick off the treat. Repeat this a few times, then start to hold the treat out of reach for 3-4 steps before stopping and rewarding. Continue to gradually ramp up how many steps you ask your rat to walk before rewarding them - once they can walk 5-10 steps before getting rewarded consistently, then you can move on to training. And again, they have to feel confident in an area before they will eat, so don't ask for anything at first and just let them explore at their own pace, offering liquid treats whenever they approach. If you'd like to see more training tips, I have a video dedicated to starting training rats here. It goes over ideal environment (and how you can help your rats adjust), ideal treats, methods, clicker-training, generalization, and more: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-O8FwS_kYAno.html All in all you want to take it slow, and make sure they are confident at each stage before moving on. Rats very much are prey animals, and even the most confident rats will prioritize feeling comfortable above all else. So you will know when they are feeling good about the area when they start eating treats - and until then be sure to give them lots of places to hide and little open space in order to help them adjust quicker. Happy Training!

Like in the cage they will sniff my hand and go in it and take treats but they won’t stay calm

Unless you plan on calling them separately there’s no real reason to. If everyone is in the cage and your looking for the last straggler then they’ll learn to ignore you if you don’t reward them (I use my clicker for example all the time woh one rat while others are in the cage and instead of devaluing the sound instead they learn to ignore it while in the cage and pay attention to it when outside the cage or when I’m paying attention to them)

@@ShadowTheRat Okay! Have you ever called them by name? That's what my younger brother wants to due, but I don't know if it is a good idea.

You can do that but the main issue is that rats are very sensitive to tone and we on the other hand are very prone to changing our tone even when using the same words in the same situation. So it’s harder to generalize a word to all tones for them then it is to teach one noise that is always the same tone (by picking something you never say otherwise you can prevent yourself from slipping up and using different tones). It’s definitely possible to teach them their names and a few of my rats seem to passively learn their names however I think it has more to do with the special high pitch way I say it which gets their attention much better than a word alone would.

@@ShadowTheRat thank you so much!

Nyka Stronge first you’ll need to be sure to get at least 2 rats of the same gender - rats are very social animals and naturally live in colonies and keeping them alone is just cruel. Even if you spent all day with a rat it’s not the same as them having a ratty buddy. Otherwise I suggest doing some research on rats first - they have some specific care requirements like a large wire cage (they’re super prone to respiratory issues and tanks easily exacerbate these issues when used long term), they need to be kept in pairs or groups, you’ll want to have a vet lined up for when they get sick (and I say when because it will eventually happen, especially if the rat is from a pet store or such and thus doesn’t have the best genetics or prior environment), a good food (lab blocks are the easiest way to get a good nutritional balance but even then some lab blocks aren’t great quality. Depending where you are oxbow adult, mazuri, enviro, science selective, vetfarm, and a few other lab blocks are top quality nutrition wise.), and so forth. Just a good idea to have everything set up before you get your rats in terms of cages and vet funds and so forth so that you don’t have any surprised. And once you get them I suggest you focus on getting g them used to you first - if they’re well bred chances are they’ll be naturally friendly, but with pet store or feeder rats temperament can vary a ton and so you might have to do some trust building using yummy treats like yogurt and Cheerios. Once your rats allow easy handling and have adjusted to the free range area (make sure to rat proof this first) then you can start training - I suggest starting with come and a few simple tricks, then ramping up training gradually as they get the idea. And as for potty training rats tend to naturally go on bedding as long as you provide enough places to go (at leas one pan per level especially at first) and when outside the cage if you keep the cage doors open (which I recommend and now do myself) they will naturally return when they have to potty. So it’s less of a training and more of you setting the environment up for their success and their instincts doing the rest. Other than that I wish you luck with your soon to be new rattie!

@@ShadowTheRat I'm gonna be getting a bonding pouch so I will have her wherever. And I might get a little sleeping bag as well, so she can sleep near me. I'm gonna be buying oxbow, and I'm planning on paper bedding, is care fresh ok?

Yep!

Typically people free feed lab blocks, so just keep the bowls or foraging toys full. If your rats are under 6 months they should have constant access to food regardless of feeding method. Past that age, if you want to feed exact amounts then you have to experiment with it - start by weighing them in grams on a kitchen scale, then feed 15 grams of food that day. Weigh them the next day at the same time, and if they lost weight, add another few grams. If they stayed stable, keep feeding the same amount. Experiment with the amount until they maintain weight as adults (rats are considered full grown at 9-10 months, so before this age their weight should slowly increase and after this age they should maintain a fairly stable weight.) But really as long as your feeding a high quality lab block like Oxbow adult or mazuri rat and mouse then rats won’t over eat it, and you can free feed it at any age safely.

I mostly use plain yogurt, cheerio bits, and gerber puff bits.

Pavlov used a bell which is where we get this type of training from. Any sound when paired with a pleasurable or desired experience will create a connection between the sound and the reward. Pavlov rang a bell before feeding his dogs and over time just the sound of the bell caused his dogs to salivate.

Rats running off to eat or stash food is very normal and not a sign of fear. Honestly for a lot of my rats (even the more confident ones) I'll stick to using liquid treats or super small (1/3 - 1/4 the size of a cheerio) solid treats for a good while and after that they'll have built the habit to stick around and even with medium to large treats will usually eat it right there and not run off. Also if I can ask does your guy have a buddy? No matter where they come from rats really benefit from other rat companionship. All the rats seen in this video were pet store rats and all of them were very much social with other rats. The largest black and white one seen was a human biter and the medium black and white one was super shy but with their cagemates good example and me working with them they gradually came around quite a bit. Anyways if your rat is approaching you and accepting food outside the cage that's already a huge sign - some of my current rats wouldn't even take food from me inside the cage at first but now they've come so far and its amazing to look back and see their progress.

In that case I’d consider getting them a same sex buddy, as rats are super social and it’s important to keep them in groups.

When you say 4/5 times, what do you mean by that? Training is not something that's accomplished in 5 tries of less, its something you need to work daily to keep consistent. You need to work a few minutes a day with it and consistently do it each day, and then you'll see results. Its not going to be out of the blue, it will be something you've built up over days and weeks.

young

Yup, in fact come should be one of the first tricks you teach any rat. I've taught this rats as young as 4 week old and they could technically start learning this even younger at just 3-3.5 weeks old (and of course older rats can also learn this).

I didnt think you would actually reply Thank You😄

I can promise you that all rats are very food motivated, however they might not seem that way at first. That's because of 2 main reasons - the first is the rats are prey based animals and prioritize safety (so if they don't feel comfortable enough they won't eat or pay any attention), and the second is that rats are naturally very energetic and spontaneous animals and so concentrating does not come naturally to them (so rats new to training will almost always be running off every few seconds until they get a few tricks down, at which point they will start to build a much better attention span). In terms of your rats I would start by first making sure they feel safe in the area you work in. A rat that feels safe will explore confidently and take treats and so if you don't see this then its safe to assume they are a bit nervous. To remedy this you can start by adding some houses, boxes, and so forth to the area so that they have bolt holes, along with give cage access when possible so coming out is up to them (if you can't do this then a travel cage with bedding from the main cage, a hide, and water is a good idea). You can also help them adjust faster by wearing a blanket or hoody (rats love dark warm spaces), and bringing some liquid treats to reward your rats whenever they come up to you (liquid treats are more motivating to rats, plus since they don't have to chew them the threshold for them eating them is much lower). Its impossible to work on anything until your rats feel safe and most of my early training sessions come down to just feeding some yogurt off my hands whenever my rats stop by during free-range and so if your guys aren't going for treats try taking a few days to just feed them liquid treats whenever they come up to you on their own. As for them being naturally energetic and distracted unfortunately that is only something working with them solves. You have to work through that first period of them not knowing why they should stick around and so its natural for them to run off every repetition or so. Just let them run off and when they return go ahead and feed more liquid treats - after they start sticking around some more its a good idea to teach a lure (this mans teach them to follow a piece or treat - many rats will get frustrated if you don't train this separately and I find its super helpful to treat it as its own behavior). To do this when your rat comes over let them start to lick some yogurt or such off your hand, then gradually move it forward little by little, letting them continue to lick as they walk. After a few steps stop moving your hand and let them lick off a bit more before repeating the process. After a few tries start to keep the food out of reach for a step or two before rewarding, then start to add on steps until the rats can follow the lure at least 5 steps before being rewarded. At that point your rats will be ready to start actual tricks, and that makes everything much easier to train. Even though they might still be running off every few repetitions they will at least know that following a lure will eventually reward them, and they will be comfortable eating food outside the cage. This lays the groundwork for any trick and once your rats master a few tricks everything gets much easier to train. Finally I know its not related to your question however if your rat is alone I'd really suggest getting him some cagemates. Rats are very social animals and really thrive on living with other rats, and on top of that having other rats around helps to give them a lot of confidence when facing something new. I've had many rats and the best way to help a nervous rat come around is just to bring out all their cagemates - not only does the group give them confidence, but the more confident rat(s) will take the lead and soon enough even the most skittish rats will be imitating them.

@@ShadowTheRat Ok, Thankyou, I'm sure peaches(my rat) training will be a lot easier thanks to your tips :).

In that case, you need to let them adjust to the environment more first - rats will value security and comfort over food anytime, so give them loads of enclosed spots to hide like boxes and cage access so they can adjust quicker. Also switch to a liquid treat like yogurt, as rats find liquid treats more valuable and can't run off with them. Once your rats will readily take treats in the free-range area, that's when you know they've adjusted and can start training. If you would like more tips on starting out, I have. whole video dedicated to starting out training with rats here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-O8FwS_kYAno.html

I have their cage open and they will always return to poop in the litter. Rats are actually quite clean, they prefer to go potty in certain spots and will always return to them when available.

You can start as soon as you get them! With my girls Olive and Donut for example I got them at 5.5 weeks and started the day I got them - and since they are confident little rats starting right away was perfect and they took to it immediately. With shyer rats I've waited a few weeks to build their confidence approaching me and being outside the cage, but otherwise rats can technically learn as soon as they wean. I actually am currently doing a training series with the rats I mentioned (Olive and Donut) and I have been documenting each session, from the first at 5.5 weeks learning spin, paw, and backup, to them currently learning vs basketball, flyball, agility, and more at 16 weeks. And they will just continue to learn more with time, so if you want to see how they progress from distracted little beans to their current focused selves that series shows it all: ru-vid.com/group/PLGThSDBAdLEJw_uz3vQ1snQ7fIvmD3SXV Happy Training!